Colourless, odourless liquid drops

Most often GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) comes in liquid and colourless form. Their slightly salty and soapy taste is often masked by the taste of the drinks into which they are mixed. Other substances used as date rape drugs come as powders or capsules, which also dissolve in beverages.

Invisible to the unsuspecting eye

These substances can practically not be detected by taste, which is why it's relatively easy to slip them into open bottles or glasses at bars, clubs and parties. They may also be mixed in with food.

Watch your drinks

The perpetrators are not always strangers; friends or casual acquaintances can also be offenders. Perpetrators may act in groups: one of them diverts attention while another slips the drops into the drink. It is sometimes not even necessary to find a way to deflect attention if the drink is left unattended.

What's so tricky and dangerous about these drugs is that since the substances arecolourless and essentially odourless, unsuspecting people are often unable to smell or taste the foreign substances when mixed in with a drink or meal.